In case you weren’t aware, the Surprised Pikachu meme is still one of the most popular memes out there and is continuing to make the rounds online. Read on below to learn more about this particular Pokémon meme and its origins:
About
Surprised Pikachu refers to a screenshot from the Pokémon anime of the character Pikachu with its mouth agape, as though it were surprised at something. In the autumn of 2018, the image was used as a reaction image paired with captions where a set-up leads to a predictable outcome that nevertheless leaves one surprised.
Origin
The episode from the Pokémon anime where the image comes from is Season 1, Episode 10, “Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village” (shown below around 3:05).
The first post to use the image as a reaction appeared on Tumblr[1] on September 26th, 2018. User popokko posted a scenario with the image and gained over 223,000 notes (shown below).
Source: Know Your Meme
Source: Pokemon
